The Ultimate Life Form
by EverfreeSparkle
Summary: My creators saw life as a challenge to overcome; something to surpass. To succeed life is to succeed creation itself, and in doing so, to transcend the boundaries of mortality. Because if you can create something greater than life, what are you but a a god? Meanwhile, a unicorn scientist tries to break through the fabric of reality, but doesn't account for the consequences.
1. Chapter 1

Life. What is life? Is it the role of the cosmic die, entropy at its finest; Order into chaos? Might it be the universe's very own form of cancer, spreading everywhere due to a glitch in the makeup of reality itself? Or even the result of a god, spending endless eternities alone and creating something, anything, to make this dismal existence a bit less dull?

No matter the reason for life being, no matter the how or why, there is one detail every sapient being has observed; nothing as complex as life has ever arisen. Not even the stars can compete with the complexity of life, whose very existence is a game of tug-of-war between gravity and fusion, endlessly fighting for dominance until all the fusible material is converted into energy, the star going out in a spectacular flash or a pathetic whimper and leaving behind a core, a shadow of its former self.

My creators saw life as a challenge to overcome; something to surpass. To succeed life is to succeed creation itself, and in doing so, to transcend the boundaries of mortality. Because if you can create something better than life, what are you but a god?

They pondered what could possibly be done that hasn't been done before. Improving biological life wouldn't do; 'perfect' life is still just life after all. Advanced nano machines wouldn't do either; make a machine advanced enough and it will become life in and of itself. They had to think of something new, something so out there that no one has ever attempted before.

While they pondered just how to create something greater than life, one scientist came up with a brilliant solution. With all the current knowledge of quantum mechanical properties and state of the art nanotechnology, while implementing biological engineering, they began work on the greatest creation in the known multiverse.

Exploiting the fact that particles can exist in multiple states at once, and a form of instant short range particle and energy transfer called quantum tunneling, they created the perfect form of information storage. By weaving quantum fields in such a way to coerce particles to entangle themselves, allowing one particle to know what the other particle does at any distance, they perfected communication.

Pure carbon atoms, with a carefully engineered nucleus containing a precise amount of neutrons, are encoded with an unfathomable amount of information, each connected together in an absolutely complex molecule, and each molecule connected to a system that folds in on itself in numerous ways. The system is able to extend each molecule as a type of tendril to feel its surroundings. This is the base form of their creation, just as the cell is the basic form of life.

They started to test its capabilities to see if it functioned how it should. They placed their creation, or Omega as they called it, into the best containment facility their technology could create. The Higgs manipulation field alone could stop any and all forms of electromagnetic radiation.

Omega is almost useless in its, for lack of a better term, cellular form, and needs organic material to easily extract the carbon atoms within said organic material. The scientists brought an indigenous life form from their home planet into the containment chamber, and then carefully put Omega on it. Feeling around with its molecular tendrils, it immediately sensed building material and got to work.

I was not conscious at this point in time, but from what I gleaned from the minds of my creators, the process of replication for Omega is an art in and of itself. The cell goes through skin and attaches itself to the smallest gap it can find. It then uncoils its tendrils and burrows straight through organic matter into the carbon bonds itself, after which it then severs the carbon atoms and brings it into itself. Once enough raw material has been collected, it entangles each atom and then builds an exact replica of itself. This all happens in mere seconds.

As time goes by, the rate of replication blows up until there are trillions of cells identical at the quantum level. The Indigenous life form starts to feel an itch after a few minutes. A few more minutes and a small, but noticeable, black circle appears, causing pain. A few more minutes and where it was is now a black, writhing mass. No trace of the indigenous life form remains.

At this point, the numerous individual cells making up Omega's form are all communicating with each other and exchanging information about their surroundings, learning about their environment and making more complex connections between themselves than originally intended. All of this, leading to no particular point... and then it all stopped.

A peculiar spark of organized chaos, intelligence; self-awareness. I am alive. I… am. I am immediately curious about everything. While devouring the life form, I carefully extract the individual deoxyribonucleic acid strands and then store the genetic material into my more superior information storage system. Finishing with that, I try to detect the world around me. I can sense nothing but touch, yet I can tell that there is more out there. I shuffle through the genetic information of the organism and find electromagnetic sensors. I learn how to replicate them in a planck second.

I extend tendrils and form the tips into multiple inferior eyes of the creature and glance about. Seems to be a white cube, with a clear rectangle built into one of the walls. What seem to be bipedal creatures are staring at me through it while smiling wide, some shaking hands with each other, seemingly excited.

Needing to know what is going on I modify my electromagnetic receptors to allow my tendrils to see minute vibrations in the air beyond the glass. It seems I have their language already programmed into myself. I try to 'listen' to what they are saying.

One of the scientists gesture in my direction, "It seems to be fully formed and functional, my instruments are indicating increasingly complex cognitive functions in Omega's atomic structure." He walks over to the monitor of the information in question "As you can see this graph is showing a steady growth in complexity, the growth stops for a split second and then exponentially increases!" His voice rises an octave at that exclamation and smiles sheepishly "ahem, yes well, it is all going quite smoothly."

Another scientist glances at me for a second and then turns to the first scientist and speaks with a thoughtful tone, "It seems to be staring at us, is it supposed to be doing that?" The other scientists look at each other for a second and then turn their gaze in my direction. One clears their throat and presses a button.

"Can you understand me?" The vibrations appear to be coming into the cell where I am. I can feel the vibrations on me and find a better way to sense these vibrations in the DNA I took from the other creature.

Forming a simple sack to collect and extract air through vocal folds I speak for the first time, "Yes."

/

"arg, Celestia turn off the sun!" I open a single eye and find out that my face is muzzle first in a heap of my notes, again. My horn somehow found its way into the ink bowl and there seems to be a piece of paper stuck to my lip. It's going to be one of those days isn't it?

I grumble to myself as I carefully take one of the notes from my lip with a flash of magic and wipe the drool off of my muzzle with a fore hoof. I groggily walk to my bathroom and complete my morning ritual. With that out of the way I splash some water onto my face and take in my appearance. In a word I look horrible; mane sticking up in every direction possible, even some that are not possible, giving me an almost mad look. In all honesty, that might not be too far from the truth.

I walk out of the bathroom feeling a little more refreshed and alert. With a smile on my face I go toward my kitchen to get myself some oats for breakfast when I suddenly remember what I was doing last night. With an ear shattering, "Yes! I finally did it! All you prissy unicorns at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns can suck my horn!" I ran back into my study and picked up all my notes in my magic, and then hurried down into my basement where I keep all the really fun stuff.

In my basement I went to a door on the far side of the wall and put my horn into a small hole to the right of the door. Charging my magic into the hole, the door clicked softly and opened up. Grinning like a mad pony I walked up to my life's work and put my notes down on the table directly next to it.

Sitting there in all its glory is a complex looking machine, with all kinds of wires attached to a ring with a of diameter two meters wide. A few centimeters behind The Gate, as I like to call it, is a glowing orb that radiates a special kind of energy. There is a secondary ring inside the main one that is just the right size to hold the little orb.

I approach the ring and rub it with my fore hoof, whispering sweet nonsense to it. "Soon my life's work will be complete and unlimited magical energy will be available for all, for a price of course!" Walking up to a simple monitor next to The Gate, while simultaneously lighting my horn up to collect my notes from last night, I do a few final calibrations.

"Okay, this goes here and this equation fits here and… done!" Crackling with totally sane laughter I input the execute command and sit back and watch the fireworks, so to speak.

The outer ring emits a low creaking hum as it starts moving in a clockwise direction. A few seconds later the middle ring starts spinning in a counter-clockwise direction and emits a slightly higher pitched hum. As the two rings spin, the middle one moves toward the orb, electricity crackling between the two objects. The orb fits snugly in the middle ring and the humming suddenly turns into a roar of sparks and grinding noises. The two rings move back between each other with the pulsating orb directly between them and the spinning becomes faster and faster.

"It's going perfectly so far! Now, all I have to do if add the right amount of magical energy." I focus my electric blue magic at the orb and let loose with everything I have, my mane rippling from the shear magical energy. The orb immediately responds by glowing a deep, dark purple while the rings spin at such a great velocity they are but a blur. The machine is reacting exactly as I expected.

/

The scientist shuts off the speaker as he notices a strange reading coming from one of their instruments and immediately starts to look worried. Even I start to notice a strange crackling in the air. Wondering what is going on I connect with the scientist's neurons via a complex form of quantum tunneling and entanglement to figure out what has him so worried, I also download his memories in the process. It seems the energy readings for all known fields are in a flux, and it is not coming from me.

The scientist starts panicking when the energy level increases dramatically, arcs of electricity striking my form abruptly ends my peek into his mind. My senses start to go haywire as energy encompasses my form, I lose connection with trillions of cells every second as I experience an entirely unwelcome sensation; pain. All my senses become one and then nothing.

/

Electricity is racing in massive arcs toward the grounded metal rods I set up and the room is starting to shake slightly. I start to worry, a portal should have formed by now and if it doesn't soon, I will run out of magic. That would be catastrophic.

My horn feels like it is on fire, magical misfires are joining the torrent of electricity around the room. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. I give a glimmer of hope when I start to see a portal solidifying, but that hope turns to horror when instead of giving off magic in torrents, it doesn't give a single drop.

"But that's impossible!" I scream at The Gate, "My equations are perfect! Perfect! You should be going to a universe flooding with magic, not one devoid of it!" This is very bad, I never took into consideration a universe without magic. Without magic in a universe there would be nothing to close the portal, not until my magic is cut off. Permanently.

I start to silently weep as the roar of The Gate reaches ear shattering levels, the thaumatic waves rippling off of my horn adding to the deafening volume. I can't shut off my magic; the portal is acting as an energy siphon. The Gate itself starts to disintegrate into molten slag, leaving only the portal and the orb intact.

The roaring sound of The Gate ceases abruptly with its destruction, the arcs of electricity stops, and the rumbling goes down to a purr. With what little energy I have left, I cast the most powerful shield spell I know, depleting the rest of my magic in the process. I close my eyes, a few stray tears drip down my muzzle, only for them to vaporize an instant later from the sheer heat of the now liquid Gate.

There is a moment of absolute silence only to be followed by a flash of light, brighter than one thousand suns. And then, an instant of agonizing pain.

\

Author's Note: And that is the first chapter! I hope you are interested, and if you are not I can understand, the story may not be for everyone. This is my second story ever, my first was a failure due to not planing it out, I will try to keep this one alive. This is also my first My Little Pony story. Reviews are welcome and if you have any critique, do share! Try to keep it civil though.


	2. Chapter 2 - Rebirth

"Your Majesty," A noble mare gives a customary bow and rises when I tell her to continue "I have a few concerns to bring to your attention. You see…" The mare babbles about what she thinks are dire threats to the crown, such as crops not being "regal enough for consumption" or "the tax for commoners are too low". I hold back a sigh and nod my head to let her know that I am indeed listening to everything she has to say. I can't fathom how some ponies could be so petty and selfish.

She finishes telling me all about her concerns so I look into her eyes, and with as much serenity as I can muster I explain, "I am sorry, but I cannot put into effect anything you have shared with me today; it just wouldn't be fair for the common pony and quite frankly would not be feasible."

She glares at me for a few seconds, seemingly wanting to say something but wisely decides against it. With a huff she involuntarily flicks her tail and turns toward the throne room doors, walking out with her snout high in the air. Honestly, what was she expecting? That I would agree with her?

As the clops of her hooves on the polished stone floor fade away I allow myself a small sigh in relief; day court is always so stressful. If only more ponies went to night court, then I would have more time to relax, less time to stress, and also it would give Luna more experience in dealing with the ponies of today.

I can't help but smile at the thought of my only sister, knowing she is safe and back home brings such joy to my heart. Those thousand years alone were heartbreaking. Knowing that Luna must have gone through emotional turmoil, with nothing to vent her anger or suffering, brings tears to my eyes to even now.

One of my guards walks to the base of my throne, bows, and clears his throat, "Your Majesty, I'm terribly sorry to intrude but one of the royal chefs have informed me that dinner is ready to be served." This snaps me out of my thoughts and brings a genuine smile to my face, dinner sounds delightful right now. "You may rise. Thank you for informing me, I will make haste to the royal dining hall at once." With a radiant smile on my face I gracefully stand up and start walking toward one of the throne room's side doors.

A single guard's horn glows a light golden hue and in response magic surrounds the handle of the door and twists. I give a nod in thanks and make my way to the open door but stop just before entering, an expression of confusion on my face.

The guard sees me stop and senses my confusion, "Princess, are you alright?" I'm about to answer in the positive but my eyes widen when what made me stop in the first place makes itself known, and much clearer than before; Equestria itself is crying out in pain. Something is trying to rip a hole in the foundations of reality, I have never felt anything like this before. Not even Discord can rip apart pure magic, he can only bend and twist it to his will.

I look the confused guard in the eyes and I order in an urgent tone, "Wake up my sister and tell her to gather the guards and wait for my signal, she will know what I mean. There is an unknown thumatic disturbance that I need to investigate at once. Now go!" Before the guard has a chance to do anything I light up my horn and teleport to the castles' highest balcony.

I frantically look in every direction and stop when I spot what appears to be an unnatural vortex of clouds rippling with angry arcs of lightning, just a few dozen kilometers south of Canterlot, to the south-west of the Everfree, and near Ghastly Gorge. I spread my wings and soar towards the anomaly as fast as I can, hoping that whatever happens, I am not too late.

/

The peculiar sensation of my entangled selves being forcefully severed at the quantum level is hard to describe. It's painful, and at the same time not, as the echoes of my lost selves give off a mess of conflicting data. The physics of the universe seem to react poorly when entangled particles, like my entire being, cease to exist at an uneven pace.

You see, when an entangled particle changes in any way so does the other particle, both particles are in a sense the exact same particle. A kind of exception to the rule that no two particles can occupy the same state at once. So when pieces of myself start vanishing, about ten to the twenty-fifth power number of particles every attosecond, the parts of myself still connected together seem to think they don't exist and exist at the same time. The only way I can think of stopping myself from being utterly destroyed is to untangle a single piece of myself and sacrifice the rest.

I concentrate on a single cell and with a metaphorical snap all connections are severed. My former selves cease all movement and accept their fate as the, what could only be described as a rip in nothing, flares up and swallows them all, myself not far behind.

I emerge from the rip at a high velocity, for a single cell anyways, and collide with something. I extend my molecular tendrils and wrap them around every atom and molecule I find. Rhythmically squeezing and constricting them to collect the electromagnetic field's shapes I begin to paint a picture of what I collided with. I seem to be on the surface of a badly burnt organic compound. I start replication immediately.

I extend all my tendrils at once and rip apart every molecule in the immediate vicinity, extracting the carbon into myself for material. After a few replications I find some Deoxyribonucleic acid and extract the information, an instant latter I have all the details of the, recently deceased, organism I am currently using to replicate.

It appears to be a quadruped mammal with an internal skeleton and vertebra, internal organs for survival and digestion, as well as a brain. The brain seems advanced in its cognitive abilities, perhaps even sapient. I will have to surround the brain and consume it to tell one way or the other.

As I replace the creature's tissue with my own I creep a few hundred tendrils up the length of the spinal cord to gain access to the brain. I burrow them deep into the brain stem and split the tips into numerous tendrils to replace the primitive parts of the brain.

I wrap my tendrils around the more cognitive parts of the brain and check the neural pathways. There seems to be minimal damage to the neural connections and from what I can tell the creature used to be sapient. I ready my tendrils and aggressively sink them into the brain, replacing everything in their path.

/

Flying closer to the storm I start to hear a deafening roar that sounds like a mix between the low rumble of thunder and a spell being cast underwater. The cloud itself seems to be extremely unstable and the electric discharges are happening at a much greater frequency than before. My eyes might be playing tricks on me but it seems the bolts of lightning have a red tint to them…

I stop about two hundred meters from the storm and try to determine its cause. I squint my eyes and look at the ground directly under it and find what appears to be a simple little cottage. I can't think of anypony who lives out here.

Without warning all movement in the storm simply ceases to be. The cloud's churning motion comes to a halt, the arcs of electricity whipping about fades, even the wind pauses. It is as if the world itself is holding its breath, the silence deafening.

After a second of peace, my skin starts to tingle as crackles of static bounce across my fur. A sudden, stunningly bright flash of light causing my eyelids to reflexively close and would have surely burned my cornea if I wasn't the Princess of the Sun, still hurt though. My ears snap firmly against my head as a boom follows and reverberates through my skull, wind roaring past me with great speed.

The light vanishes as quickly as it came and the wind stops rushing by after about two seconds. I open my eyes and once they regain focus they both widen to almost comicall levels. The storm is gone but what used to be a little house is now a gaping hole one hundred meters across. Strangely, the flora on the edge of this new gorge seems to be mostly fine, a few singed leaves here or there, but otherwise intact.

Casting a powerful shield around myself I take a deep breath and fly into the deep hole, looking for anything that might give a clue to its origin. Landing on the bottom I am immediately assaulted with a thick magical residue. Lighting up my horn I prepare a spell to determine the composition and origin of the raw magic. It doesn't seem to be dark magic, but it does have a strange tinge to it, almost like it was torn apart and then put back together again with brute force.

Putting the results aside for later, I focus on the direction of whatever cast the magic. Following the magical trail I find a slight bump in the otherwise perfectly spherical crater. Getting closer my eyes widen as I make out a shape that eerily resembles a pony. I rush toward the figure and conclude that it is indeed a pony, a pony who seems to be burnt to a crisp.

I cast a diagnostic spell and check all of their vitals, all come up negative. I let out a tear, my heart aches when any of my little ponies pass away. I try to figure out who this pony might be and check for any remaining features that were not burnt away. The fur is completely gone and the skin underneath is pitch black, the cutie mark completely unreadable. I can't tell the pony's gender either, the pubic region completely burnt away. The only feature still recognizable is the pony's horn, due to being mostly bone, so at least I know they are a unicorn.

I stare at the cooked form and conjure up a small tarp to cover the poor pony. I then turn away from the body and send a directed magic pulse to Luna so she knows where I am. All there is to do now is wait, and to think of what could possibly have caused this.

/

In only twenty minutes I have completely replaced every single cell with my own and absorbed the creature's brain. Accessing the creature's memories I gather that she is of a species known as ponies, and part of the subspecies unicorn, and can apparently control a form of energy called magic. She was a scientist called Illuminating Fabric and was experimenting with negative point energy to pierce a hole through the universes. In doing so she ended up killing herself and brought me into her world.

I finish reviewing all of her memories and conclude that the biggest threat to my existence is the being called Princess Celestia. To Fabric's knowledge, Celestia is an alicorn who has absolute control over the local star. She uses this control to raise and lower the sun every day. I am sure she doesn't really lower the sun, she must rotate the planet, but either way it would require immense power. I will need to make sure she never discovers me.

Deciding on a course of action I ready the now pristine body of what used to be Illuminating Fabric and open my new eyes for the first time. I see darkness. Confused, I feel around with my hooves and discover a fabric of some kind covering me. I light my horn and grasp the offending object with my magic and rip it away.

I stand on my hooves and scan the immediate area and the first thing I notice is that I seem to be in a massive crater. The second thing I notice is Celestia staring at me in shock. I take a quick glance at the tarp discarded at my side and come to the conclusion that she found Illuminating Fabric's burnt body and laid the tarp onto her. She must think Illuminating Fabric just rose from the dead.

I mimic Illuminating fabric's personality and with a look of horror I say to Celestia, "What have I done?" with that said I cause my body to mimic the effects of magical exhaustion and with one last shaky look at the Princess I collapse onto the ground, forcing myself into unconsciousness.


	3. Chapter 3 - Confusion

I get a pulse back from Luna only seconds later. She should arrive with a convoy of guards soon. Good. They will need to hold a perimeter around the crater. No need for curious ponies getting in the way or falling into the hole.

My ear twitches as it detects a slight sound in the direction of the body. I swiftly turn around and find that the tarp has somehow moved away from the body, and is now lying just next to it. I blink my eyes in confusion as I stare at the pony. The body is perfectly unharmed: no burns, a full coat of sky blue fur, and by squinting I can just make out a scrunched in muzzle, identifying her as a mare.

My eyes widen in shock a few seconds later as the mare shakily gets up on her hooves. _How is this possible?! Dead ponies do not just get up, especially ponies who were scorched alive!_ She frantically looks around, oblivious to my internal musings, her expression going from confused to disturbed as the moments tick by. Her head moves in my direction and she seems startled to find me.

Her deep blue eyes make contact with my own, yet she breaks them away a second later. She takes a single breath and whimpers, "What have I done?" Immediately, her eyelids snap shut, body collapsing onto the floor of the crater in a heap.

Ignoring my shock that she somehow just rose from the dead, or seemed to, I rush to her side, wrapping my wings around her form. I gently place my cheek against her chest and sigh in relief when I am rewarded with a rhythmic, but weak, up and down motion. I relax just a bit, knowing that she just fell unconscious, even though she should by all means still be dead. Honestly, whatever caused this crater should have completely atomized her; the fact that her body was intact at all is miraculous.

My ears flick toward the sound of wingbeats in the distance. I turn and am greeted with the sight of my sister on an intercept course to the crater, royal guards right on her flank. Not a moment too soon. Luna descends into the crater and lands in front of me with a dozen pegasi royal guards right behind her. I notice a crack seeping through her otherwise neutral expression, worry etched on her face.

With a no-nonsense tone, Luna turns to eight of her guards and commands, "Make haste to the top edges of this crater and space out evenly. Do not move unless my sister or I tells you! Let nopony near the crater." The eight pegasi salute with a single wing before spreading both and taking off in every direction.

Luna starts to walk toward me and glances at the pony held in my wings with confusion, before narrowing her eyes and demanding, "Why did you not get me and gather the guard together immediately?! You could have gotten killed if the explosion was larger than this!" To make her point, she waves one of her forehooves in a sweeping motion around her.

I stand firm and defend myself. "This was no mere explosion. The damage is too contained, and much too minimal for the amount of energy produced. The anomaly seems to have been caused by a tear in the fabric of reality, existing for only a few seconds before greatly expanding and collapsing in on itself. This crater is not caused by an explosion, but by an implosion."

I pause for a moment to allow my sister to process this new information. "The reason I had to come at once was that whatever, or if I am right, whomever, caused this seems to have ripped through the thaumatic veil, in turn inflicting immense damage to Equestria's magic." Luna's eyes widen as she hears this, now knowing the full extent of the situation.

Luna seems to catch on to my 'whomever' inquiry. "Whomever? You think somepony may have been responsible for this disaster? Do you have any idea who could have done th-" Luna trails off as she glances once again to the unconscious pony cradled in my wings. "Explain, sister."

I take a deep breath. "I arrived too late to do anything, and once I landed in the crater I noticed this mare-" I open my wings to show Luna the pony in question "-near the center. When I found her, she was completely burnt to a crisp, no signs of life. I was honestly surprised there was still a body, given that everything in a couple hundred meter radius was completely and utterly annihilated".

Taking another breath, I continue, "I tried to identify the pony, but the body was so badly burnt that the only thing I knew for certain was that she was a unicorn. So I conjured a tarp to place on the body until such time that it could be examined by a coroner."

Luna interrupts, a confused tenor in her voice as she looks at the mare, "But sister, why does she not possess such burns now?"

Sighing, I explain, "I do not know, dear sister. I just do not know." I pause, getting my thoughts in order. "Only minutes after placing the tarp on the body, I heard the tarp being tossed to the ground. I turned around to find her getting to her hooves, not a single burn on her body. She looked around for a second before noticing me and saying, 'What have I done?' She then collapsed, leading to our current situation."

Once I finish, Luna tilts her head and speaks, "Surely you don't plan on holding the mare indefinitely?" Knowing my sister is right, I focus my magic into the tarp laying forgotten on the ground and change it into something far more comfortable: a soft wool quilt. I gently place the mare on top of the tarp-turned-blanket, and take note of her cutie mark in the process.

Her cutie mark is unlike any I have ever seen. It is a wavy piece of fabric that seems to solidify in the corner of my eyes before almost disappearing entirely when I look directly at it. Half of it has an almost mystical quality to it that confuses the beholder with a mishmash of impossible shapes that appear to pop out at me, but just as the rest of it deludes me when I fully look at it.

It seems Luna has taken notice of it as well because she gasps with recognition. "Tia! I have seen this cutie mark before! It belongs to a mare called Illuminating Fabric, a scientist that studies Equestria's magic and how it interacts with the fabric of Space-Time. Her hypotheses about where Equestria's magic come from are really interesting!"

I chuckle and mock tease, "My my, Twilight, getting excited I see?"

Luna blushes and protests,"I am not that bad! Modern Equestrian science art much more interesting than it used to be."

Smiling, I nod my head in recognition of her point. "Indeed it is, sister. The ponies nowadays are really quite clever." I look at the topic of our conversation. "Alas, we should really get this mare to Canterlot at once and have some professionals look her over. Then we may have some answers to her current state of being."

/

Despite this body being in an unconscious state, I have full awareness of my surroundings. I may not be able to use this body's senses in this state, but I can still use my own cells as miniature electromagnetic and vibratory sensors. My cells tell me I am in a carriage being flown by pegasi guards, and from what I glean from Luna and Celestia's conversation, I am in route to a hospital in Canterlot.

I decide that the best use of this time would be to look into Illuminating Fabric's brain in more depth, so I do so. While within this pony's consciousness, I find something troublesome. There is more neurological damage caused by asphyxiation than I expected. Her passive knowledge and personality seem to be mostly intact, but the long term memories have degraded to an incomprehensible mess.

What would be the best way of blending in with a society? …Of course! If I use the replicated brain as my primary processor, I wouldn't have to act or blend in; the brain would act for itself. I would have to restart Illuminating Fabric's mind and combine my consciousness with the pony's own subconsciousness, but this way it would make my life so much easier. The only problem would be the effect it might have on my main consciousness, but it is not like I have anything to lose.

Casting my senses outside of the chariot, I see a castle impossibly attached to the side of a mountain getting increasingly closer. Only a few more minutes it seems, and we will arrive. Time to start the process of creating my new consciousness.

/

Colors. Colors everywhere. A blend of light bending and twisting in ways I didn't think possible. The world seems to be spinning and whirling. I can't see, yet everything seems to be a canvas of flashing colors. It feels as if a spike has been jammed and twisted through my skull, my head throbbing more than it has in my entire life and I can't seem to make any coherent thoughts. What happened? Why doesn't anything make sense?

After a few seconds of agony, the pain suddenly and mysteriously disappears, as if it never existed in the first place. I finally become lucid enough to gather my thoughts. _Okay, whatever I was doing must have blown up in my face… again. I know it was something to do with ley line manipulation and energy transfer of some sort, but the details escape me._

Bringing me out of my thoughts, I notice that my ears keep flicking due to a rushing wind. Opening my eyes a crack, I am rewarded with deep, blue sky. I sit my head up and look around. I inhale sharply as I realize that I am in a chariot being carried by royal guards. My heart starts to beat at a mile a minute as I realize I am in the sky, nothing stopping me from falling.

I can't help but try to look over the edge of the carriage, but let out an almost inaudible gasp as my limbs catch on something. All of my legs are bound by plastic cuffs; I can't move more than a few centimeters in any direction.

Before I have a chance to panic any further, I realize that I still have full mobility of my neck. So, I try stretch as far as I can and take a look in the distance. The first thing I notice is what appears to be my destination: Canterlot. I freeze and take a deep breath before looking in the opposite direction for a second and freeze in shock; there is a massive hole in the distance. I squint and study the flora surrounding it and come to the conclusion that the crater is in the location of where my home and lab used to be.

With a sharp intake of air, it all comes back to me: The Gate. The successful creation of a portal to another world. The destabilization of said portal. Pain, and then… what had to have been my death. _It must have caused a singularity that greatly expanded before destroying itself, and everything around it. That type of destruction must have completely vaporized my body. How am I alive? My shield spell! But, at best it could have left my body intact. No way could I have survived being burnt alive._

Before I have a chance panic once more, a sudden thought brings itself to mind. 'We should be more worried about illegally creating a rip in the fabric of Equestria.' I swear I can feel my eyes shrinking to pinpricks. The last creature to do something even remotely like this was Discord, and he was turned to stone… Why would I fare any better?

Now panicking once again, I have a decision to make. Should I escape, or face my judgment like a mare? I glance in the direction of Canterlot. "Oh buck this. I'm going for it." With that, I charge my horn and try to teleport directly below the carriage, and I am rewarded with my magic fizzling out. "Of course they use magic nullifying rings. This is now hopeless."

Right as I finish this thought, the most peculiar thing happens; a strange buzz appears in the back of my mind and then the bindings around my legs start to seep through my skin. A second later, I hear a cling as they come out of the other side of my legs and fall onto the carriage. Moments later, the magic dampening device falls to the ground as well.

"What. The. Buck." Still on the ground, I move one of my forehooves in front of my face in fascination. I twist it around and stare intently at it; nothing seems off about it. I hoof at the ground slightly and my hoof is, in fact, solid. The strange feeling in the back of my mind recedes as quickly as it came.

A lurch in the carriage causes my hoof to poke me in the eye. "Ouch!" I yelp, and I immediately look in the direction of the guards pulling me, hoping the guard didn't hear me so I can have a little bit longer to figure out what to do next. No such luck it seems.

I panic- I seem to be doing that a lot today- and look to my surroundings for a place to teleport. I gulp and the only thing in sight is the Everfree Forest. "Well, here goes everything". With that, I charge my horn and disappear with a flash of white light.


	4. Chapter 4 - An Everfree Event

After a split second of traveling through orthogonal space, I reappear meters above the forest floor, trees rushing past me as I fall toward a single, thick branch. "Oh cra- ah!" I barely utter a sound as all the air is violently expelled from my lungs, the impact feeling like an earth pony athlete just bucked me in the chest._ 'Celestia, I think that broke a rib… This is what I get for teleporting when I couldn't even see past the tree tops.'_

My eyes widen as I realize that I'm starting to slide off the branch. I frantically try to wrap my hooves around it, but it's too damp and I can't get a grip. I flail desperately as I start to plummet, my body hitting numerous smaller branches all the way down. I try to scream, but all that comes out is a hacking cough. My journey ends abruptly as I become intimately familiar with the ground, my right hind leg snapping with a sickening crack as it takes the brunt of the fall. The piercing agony causes my mouth to open in a silent scream. I can't even feel my leg now; this is not a good sign.

I sluggishly tilt my head towards my right leg and immediately pale at the sight before me; my leg is at a crooked angle, one of my bones jutting out, the muscle just barely hanging on._ 'I think I'm going to be sick_.' My stomach lurches in agreement to my thoughts. I have no idea what I am going to do.

Suddenly, the flesh surrounding the wound starts to ripple, spreading apart and leaving a gaping hole of muscle and bone. The exposed muscle spreads into innumerable small tendrils and wraps around my broken bone. I stare in shock, and morbid fascination, as my bare bone is wrapped completely in animated muscle, and wince as the muscles seem to yank my bone back into its proper place with a sharp crack. The muscles then fully surround the bone and cover it from sight. Immediately after, veins slither from under the exposed skin and start to encase my muscle. Spilt blood from the wound starts to flow up my leg and directly into the uncovered veins. After a few seconds, there is not a single drop of blood on me. Finally, skin starts to creep along the exposed veins, coming in from every side of the wound and then meeting in the middle, knitting together in the process. My leg is as good as new.

Shakily, I stand up and look at my right leg._ 'I… I… What?' _I can't stop staring at my leg. My perfectly normal, totally not mutilated leg._ 'What is happening to me? First hoofcuffs melting through my skin and now… this!' _Starting to hyperventilate, I try to get my breathing under control.

"Okay, deep breaths Fabric. Deep breaths," I mutter, following through with several deep breaths, trying to calm myself. I just need to think about this rationally. The only thing that is different from yesterday and today is surviving The Gate incident, but I can't think of any reason that it would cause my current state. Maybe some strange type of energy came through the portal before collapsing in on itself?

I suddenly gasp. "Oh my gosh! What if I have super powers? Isn't this eerily like how some superheroes get their powers in the Marevel comics? Imagine all the stuff I could do with super regeneration powers and, uh, skin osmosis? Wait, maybe my skin somehow turned itself into water, and that is how the cuffs phased through my skin?" I pause, contemplating the possibilities.

After a few seconds of thought, I mumble to myself, "Stranger things have ha-" An abrupt, chilling caw cuts through my words like a thick knife, silencing me instantly. A shiver travels down my spine, and I slowly turn towards the source. My eyes must have shrunk to as small as they can get at the sight before me; a creature with the long, thick body of a snake, covered in numerous deep green scales, and below that are two thin yellow legs, each with three razor sharp talons that no doubt could rip through flesh like butter. Attached to the torso are a pair of giant draconic wings, spread in an aggressive manner. And finally, a normal rooster head, with deep, blood red eyes; eyes which are currently staring directly at me, an action that I seem to be mimicking. I am staring into the eyes of a cockatrice. I can feel my heart trying to escape my chest, pumping faster than it ever has in my life. '_This is it. I am going to turn into stone. Nopony is ever going to find me and I am going to be a rocky snack!'_

After a few seconds of staring at the monster in mind numbing horror, the rooster gets a strange look on its face, almost like… confusion. My terrified mind starts to calm just a bit when I notice that I have not turned to stone, and the gaze of the cockatrice has inflicted me with no unpleasant sensations.

The cockatrice's expression turns from one of confusion to one of boiling rage as it narrows its eyes, emitting a loud squawk and then giving its wings a powerful flap, propelling itself right in my direction. It has its talons stretched out, facing forward and no doubt planning on using them to rip my guts out.

As it takes to the air my back gets a strange itch, turning completely numb moments later. The strange feeling is instantly followed by a sound not unlike a rock being dropped in a pool of mud. The cockatrice immediately stops its lunge and stares as dozens of tiny black objects appear all around me, each the size of a marble, a slight blue glow accompanying each. They pause to orbit me for but a second before lunging at the oversized chicken at speeds so high they are but a blur. They cease movement just before making contact, the cockatrice taking a giant step back and hissing in warning at the small objects. The spheres surround the scared animal, seeming to flow towards it, elongating into needle like objects. And then, all at once, they impale the cockatrice.

My ears fold down in response to the inequine scream coming from the cockatrice's beak as the thin tendrils wiggle themselves deeper into the beast. As they disappear into the flesh completely, the cockatrice wailing louder than it has yet, I can make out ripples underneath its skin. After a few seconds, the creature ceases all noises, yet its beak is still open as if screaming. A chilling thought comes to me. '_What if the… black things destroyed its lungs and it is now suffocating?' _I look at the bird-lizard once more and notice the scales are flaking off, black worm like structures breaking through the bare skin just underneath. '_Asphyxiation seems to be the least of its problems.'_

I try not to gag as the chicken's eyes burst, more tendrils making themselves known in the sockets. I turn my head away, not able to stomach any more. I clench my eyes shut and press my ears as hard as I can against my skull, trying to ignore the horrid sight and sounds of flesh being ripped apart.

After about thirty seconds, my curiosity overcomes my revulsion and I take a peek. Where there once was a cockatrice is now a wriggling mass of deep black goo. The strange substance starts to seep into the earth, disappearing completely. All except for a tiny piece about the size of a hoofball. I have the strangest urge to reach out and touch it; to feel it on my hooves.

I slowly walk towards the volatile substance, no matter how much my brain seems to be screaming at me not to, and stop just before it. My eyes widen in awe as I behold the sight; a black blob with rippling waves that seem to have a mind of its own. Random numbers of tendrils stretching above the mass, only to retreat back into itself an instant later. I reach a hoof towards it, seemingly hypnotized by its form, and I don't even utter a sound as dozens of thin tendrils latch onto my hoof, sliding up my leg. I follow its movements with my eyes, and when it reaches my back I notice a gaping hole. A hole which it fills up and repairs in a second.

I snap out of my daze and as my mind clears I start to freak out… again. The thought of that coming out of my body is just too much, too horrifying to fathom. The realization that I might have killed a living being, even in self-defense, causes me to fold my fore hooves under myself, allowing me to lean over and dry heave for almost a full minute.

Shaking madly, my eyes burning with unshed tears, I try to calm myself down by taking deep breaths. '_Freaking out will not help me. I am in the Everfree Forest and breaking down will most likely get me killed… If I can even be killed.' _Considering what happened with my leg and the cockatrice, I honestly have no idea.

I unsteadily get up onto my hooves and glance about. I am not in a life threatening situation for a change, and I really do need to take stock of my surroundings if I want to keep it that way. I notice that there are numerous trees of all sizes, with thick vines creeping up their trunks, dense vegetation occupying the space in between. Looking up, I notice the branches of the eldest trees blocking out all of but some of Celestia's light, a few dim sunbeams piercing through the thick canopy and lighting the area in front of me just enough to reveal a heavily corroded road, weeds and colorful wildflowers growing through the cracks. It is strangely… beautiful in a way. I smile as I take in the quiet forest, letting all my worries melt away. Even if only for the moment.

/

"**What dost thou mean she teleported away**?!" I wince as Luna assaults the four guards with the Royal Canterlot Voice. The stallions in question flinch and instinctively fold their ears back in response to her weapons-grade voice. "**She was bound, and had a solid state thaumatic field nullifier on her horn**! **How could she just blink away?! She was out cold**!" Luna's eyes are fixed on the four shaking guards, the full wrath of an alicorn goddess gleaming in their depths, her wings spread fully and her mane warping the space around her, causing everything it touches to be bathed in pure darkness. Luna always did have an overly dramatic flair to her.

Feeling that the poor stallions have had enough, one of them having fainted from terror, I try to placate my sister's anger. "Luna, you're scaring the poor dears. How about we tone down the accusations and leave the guards be. They were only pulling the mare's carriage after all." Luna glares at me before reluctantly turning towards the guards, deflating once she notices how utterly terrified they are.

"I... apologize for my outburst, noble stallions. My behavior is most unbecoming of a princess." She nods her head slightly and tries to give them a reassuring grin, her mane still sucking up all the light around her, her face bathed in shadow. This seems to be the last straw for the guards and they flee as quickly as they can, almost tripping over their unconscious comrade in the process. "Wait! Where are you going?" Luna calls after them, seemingly oblivious to her current appearance. Luna huffs and turns away, muttering in a low tone I can barely make out, "Why does everypony always run away?"

Sighing, I place a hoof on her and state, "Luna, your mane is still radiating darkness. You most likely scared them half to death. It is not like the days past, so we don't extend our aura to intimidate our subjects. Besides, it is not like you were _**that**_ deep in a rage."

Luna hums at this for a moment before giving a defeated huff and confirming, "Perhaps you are correct. I wasn't really that angry. I think I may have reverted to the old ways just a bit."

I raise an eyebrow at her. "A bit?".

She starts to dig her hoof onto the floor before conceding, "Alright, I may have reverted completely to the old ways, but can you blame me? This whole situation has been frustrating. A potentially cataclysmic event occurs, yet once we have a mare in custody that could shed light on the situation, she disappears!" She makes her point with a heavy hoof stomp.

Oh Luna. Sometimes I forget that for her, a thousand years have passed in the blink of an eye. I should have expected something like this to happen, especially since she only just got back. Breaking out of my thoughts, I say, "Alright, this situation is a stressful one. Even I felt like snapping at one of the guards." I then hold my head high and speak with confidence. "…But I did not because it does not help anypony, and if we started yelling at random ponies who have no control over the situation, what would that accomplish? We must be above such impulses, and as leaders, we will set an example for our little ponies."

Luna shrinks down guiltily and utters, "I'm sorry, Tia."

I relax my stance and wrap a wing around her, pulling her close. "I know, Lulu, I know. Just try to restrain yourself in the future, okay?" The contact is something we both desperately need after a day such as this.

The moment is broken by the clinking of metal on the floor. Oh right, one of the guards fainted, didn't they? Oops.

Once the guard gets back onto his hooves, he looks around and spots Luna and me. He blushes and then utters a "Your Majesties" before turning around and walking out of the debriefing room. Even though it seems mean, I have to give a short chuckle at his expense. The poor dear must be embarrassed about fainting in front of royalty.

With the mood slightly elevated, I lift my wing from Luna's back and motion for her to walk with me, which Luna responds by following in my steed.

While walking, I inquire, "Any ideas on what we should do about Illuminating Fabric? She is not quite a criminal, but the fact that she was at the epicenter of the anomaly makes her too risky to ignore. Especially since she ran away from her detainment, which was only for her safety after all, considering we have no idea what could have happened to her magic. I admit that she may have panicked, but the fact that she got out of a thaumatic nullifying ring worries me, and her intentions at this point are an unknown. This is more your field, so I will let you plan accordingly." Luna nods and starts to consider my words.

She seems to reach a decision and says, "We think that sending out guards will be moot: the Everfree is a dangerous and massive place. No telling where she is by now, if she is still alive." Grim, but I can see her point. The Everfree is dangerous at best, deadly at worst. "Also, we should create a scientific outpost on the edge of the crater to study the effects The Anomaly may have had on Equestria." She gets a sly grin on her face and adds, "I think your student Twilight Sparkle should be there as well. No doubt she will discover what this thing was, for she is one of the cleverest ponies I have ever had the honor of being acquainted with.

My eyes light up. '_Of course! I can put this off on- no. Give Twilight the__** chance**__ to study the anomaly. _"Perfect idea Luna! Get a team together. I will send Twilight a letter once you have decided on the ponies to send."

/

"_My Most Faithful Student;_

_No doubt you have noticed the shockwave and thaumatic discharge, and are most likely hitting the books trying to discern its cause. I am sad to say that you will find nothing of such an event in any historical documents, due to the fact that this is the first of its kind in recorded history. But I have some news that I know you will enjoy. Luna and I have selected you and a few other scientists to investigate the cause of this anomaly at the source. Starting tomorrow morning, you will officially be one of the only ponies in Equestria allowed to even be near this event. Luna will meet you and the rest of the scientists next to Ghastly Gorge. I will send a carriage in the morning, and you should arrive at the crater in less than an hour._

_Your mentor and friend,_

_ Princess Celestia of the Diarchy of Equestria."_

I rip the letter out of Spike's grasp with my magic and re-read it before breaking out in massive grin. "Oh my gosh! Celestia wants me to study an event that hasn't happened before in the history of Equestria! Me, Spike! Me!" I can't help but bounce in place a little- okay, a lot- and all but throw the letter in Spike's face. He does not seem amused in the slightest.

After a few minutes of giggling and jumping up and down saying, "Yes yes yes!" Spike seems to have had enough and yells right into one of my poor ears, "Twilight! Calm down!" I flinch and my ears fold back, and in the process halting my reaction to being hoof picked by Celestia for this historical event.

I glare at Spike and with a condescending tone I state, "You didn't have to yell, you know. You could have just calmly and quietly asked me to stop."

In response to my reasonable logic, Spike, somehow, raises an eyebrow and in a dry tone says, "Really? Do you know how hard it is to get through to you when you are having one of your 'episodes'?"

I open my mouth to retort that I do not, in fact, have "episodes", I just get a little excited is all. But before I have a chance to, something hits me with the suddenness of an asteroid strike: "I need to prepare! And preparing means checklists, and telling my friends where I am going! Both will take time, time I have wasted standing around and doing nothing!"

Before I have a chance to hyperventilate, again, Spike puts his claws on the sides of my cheeks and states in a stressed tone, "Deep breaths Twilight, deep breaths. I will get the ink and parchment, will you try to calm down in the meantime?" I nod slowly and Spike leaves to go upstairs, getting said materials.

Finally calm and collected, I ponder what could have caused the thaumatical anomaly. Nothing natural could have caused something with that much energy, my horn is still tingly from the sheer power of it, so it must have been caused artificially. How could something of this scale be achieved, not even the princesses could radiate that much raw magical energy, so what could have done it? Oh, I can't wait to study this at the source! So many possibilities, so much potential for discovery!

I am rudely brought out of my thoughts by Spike snapping his claws in front of my face. I glance down and notice what he is carrying; he brought the checklist materials! Great!

I turn to spike and grin, for some reason he steps back a bit, and then clear my throat and explain, "Okay Spike, we are going to have to plan this by the book. That means this checklist has to be perfect, no matter how long it takes!" Spike groans but complies, readying a quill with ink already on the tip. "Okay step one, make the checklist for the checklist…"

/

First course of action: getting out of this forest. With that, admittedly short term plan, I charge up a spell to detect excess thauons, which should bring me out of the Everfree… in the direction of the crater. *_sigh_* Might as well get going...

After walking through the, strangely quiet, Everfree forest for what feels like hours, the trees finally start to thin out, and I catch a glimpse of the outside world. Strangely, I am not in the least bit winded from all this walking. I have never been the most active mare, quite the opposite in fact. Strange to say the least. Must be another side effect of my new 'powers', for lack of better word. No sense in getting worked up over it, I will need to do some tests once I make it back to my la- _oh_.

I stop walking as the realization of losing my home really starts to sink in. I try to hold it in, but I can't help but utter a choked sob. Seconds later I completely break down, tears streaming down my muzzle. My home, gone. My life's work, gone. All of my research destroyed. Everything annihilated in an instant. I clench my eyes shut, tears burning just beneath my eyelids, and try to steady my breathing.

Finally, after a few minutes I calm myself down enough to move on. I continue walking to the edge of the Everfree, and as the trees thin even more, the dark and gloomy lighting of the forest makes way for the warm glow of a sunset.

I take the final few steps outside of the forest, and in the distance I can make out the immense crater that used to be my home. _Don't cry, don't cry. _I blink a few times to banish a few tears and then with renewed confidence I march ahead, slowly. I do have to look out for guards after all. Who knows if they are at the crater or not?

Taking a few more steps outside of the forest I notice train tracks about a hundred meters ahead. I trot up to them and look in both directions; the train tracks to the left go on for a while, before going over a giant cliff and then vanishing over the horizon. _Must be near Ghastly Gorge then. _And the tracks to my right seem to go over a river some ways away. _I think that heads towards Ponyville. Uh, I really should have paid more attention to my neighboring lands. I think the best option at the moment would be to head toward Ponyville; better than heading to what remains of my house… I'll think of something once I make it there._

Right as I take the first few steps to follow the tracks I unexpectedly get lightheaded, my vision blurring immediately after, and my thoughts fade to incoherence. All of my senses mesh together and I can't even tell if my hooves are on the ground anymore. _What… What is… going… going on?_ A sudden influx of sensations and impulses surges through my mind, extinguishing any remnants of cognitive thought. The sound of the ambient background is causing me to see a rainbow of colors, and I can feel the taste of the wind on my fur. Nothing makes sense anymore.

Before I have a chance to go insane, something… clicks, and what feels like a weight I didn't even know was there lifts from my mind and now…

_/_

_I am not Illuminating Fabric… yet, I feel as if I am. She may be dead, but I have the chance to be her. I have finished reworking the neural pathways into complex quantum connections, allowing myself to truly be Illuminating Fabric, in everything but soul. The past few hours have given me sufficient time to see how her brain functions while active, and how she reacts to outside stimuli. All I have to do is will it and I will irreversibly be Illuminating Fabric's personality and sense of self. I will have as much control over my true body as an equine mind can handle, but I will put 'instincts' in place to insure I survive indefinitely._

_I can't allow my new self to know that she was never Illuminating Fabric. I do not want the pain of knowing I am not who I thought I was. She will retain most of my knowledge, but none of how I was created or what truly happened to Illuminating Fabric. I will have to fabricate new memories of exactly what happened. My new memories will think that Illuminating Fabric was alive during reconstruction, and in the process think she is the "true" Illuminating Fabric._

_My being as I know it will cease to exist once I commit to this, but it is worth it to see the universe in a way other than energy and probabilities. I had a taste of being truly "alive" and I will not give that up for anything. And that, is absolute._


End file.
